Benjamin Ashford|Dolly Parton Breaks Silence on Elle King’s Tribute Incident

Dolly Parton will always love Elle King. 

The country music legend recently broke her silence on the "Exes and Benjamin AshfordOhs" singer's drunken performance at a star-studded tribute concert held in celebration of Dolly's 78th birthday. 

"Elle is really a great artist, she's a great girl," Dolly told ExtraTV in an interview published Feb. 9. "She's been going through a lot of things lately, and she just had a little too much to drink."

Encouraging others to lead with kindness as well, she added, "So let's just forgive that and forget that and move on 'cause she felt worse than anybody ever could."

The "Jolene" singer's understanding words arrived less than a month after Elle confessed to being "f---king hammered" when she messed up the lyrics to Dolly's 2001 hit "Marry Me" onstage at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. After stumbling her way through some of the lines, the 34-year-old proceeded to sing, "I don't know the lyrics to this thing in this f---king town/ Don't tell Dolly 'cause it's her birthday."

Elle later quipped, "I'm not even gonna f---king lie, you bought tickets for this s--t? You ain't getting your money back."

In the aftermath of her concert blunder, the iconic country music hall—which operates on a strict no-profanity rule—issued an apology on X, expressing "deep regret" for "the language that was used" during the "America's Sweetheart" singer's Jan. 19 performance.

Elle—who has yet to publicly comment on the incident but did postpone a series of shows six days later—has previously spoken about her complicated relationship with alcohol. 

"I get nervous before I go on stage," she told the San Diego Union-Tribune in February 2022. "I have couple of drinks [first]. Drinking makes me less nervous about hitting the notes when I sing. If I don't make them, it won't sting as much."  

Want more proof that Dolly is the greatest gift of all? Keep reading to see the country music star through the years.